🟨🟩 Got Any Wordle Tips?
Happy belated Hump Day everyone!
Everyone made it past the Hump okay? No casualties? None? Okay good :)
This week something fun is developing in the gaming community and it’s probably not what you’re thinking. We’re not talking about Microsoft and Activision nor Sony and the company behind Halo. We’re talking about another video game publisher with over 1 million Games subscriptions: New York Times. You heard that right.
It was announced on Tuesday that The Times had acquired Wordle, in a deal that was described as being “in the low seven figures”. For those unfamiliar with the game, it’s a concept so simple that I don’t feel guilty explaining it in this newsletter. Essentially, every day you get 6 guesses to guess a 5 letter word. Each guess, Wordle will tell you if you guessed the correct letters by highlighting them in yellow. If you guessed the correct letter in the correct position, Wordle will highlight them green. That’s it. There’s a new word every day and when I say this game has taken social media by storm, I mean I can’t scroll TikTok without seeing a Wordle guru explain their winning letter frequency strategy.
Josh Wardle, the founder behind Wordle is a Brooklyn-based software engineer who formerly worked at Reddit. He released the game in October 2021 and it quickly amassed millions of players who wait anxiously for their next 5 letter word.
While I can’t put my finger on why this game is so addicting, it definitely has a LOT of people in a chokehold right now and NYT looks to be a force in the game community with this major acquisition (watch out Microsoft and Sony).
It just goes to show you, you don’t have to break your back coming up with the next big idea to become successful. Sometimes, all it takes is 5 letters.
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey & Rickie
In the Markets
Weekly News Roundup
Apple to Rival Square by Turning iPhones Into Payment Terminals (BBG)
Apple is planning a new service that will allow small businesses to accept payments on their iPhones without any extra hardware. This move could impact payment providers like Square which dominates the market but rely on iPhones to facilitate sales.
RH: If this actually comes to life, not sure where Square goes from here.
HY: This would kill Square’s POS system for small business owners, don’t think it would do much to their POS systems installed in coffee shops and the like. Cool idea.
Google Parent Alphabet Announces 20-for-1 Stock Split (CNBC)
Google parent Alphabet has board approval for a 20-for-1 stock split scheduled for July 15th. After having doubled in price since May 2020, shares of Alphabet traded at over $2,750 and if the split were to happen today, each share would go down to $137.64, and each existing holder would receive 19 additional shares for every one they own.
HY: Check out my Tik Tok explaining it! Click here.
The New York Times Buys Popular Word Game Wordle (CNN)
The Times have purchased the popular word game Wordle which has taken social media by storm as of late. The deal was described as being “in the low seven figures” and will remain free to new and existing players. Wordle joins NYT’s portfolio of word games such as The Crossword and Spelling Bee.
RH: Currently punching myself in the arm for not thinking of an idea as simple as giving players six chances to guess a five letter word.
HY: I play Wordle every day, and love it! Let me know if you do too.